


A Matter of Taste

by Ixchel_Anima



Series: Eternity Among The Stars [3]
Category: SOMA (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, Post-Canon, The Ark, cath takes up baking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-12
Updated: 2021-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-18 08:01:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,576
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29979816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ixchel_Anima/pseuds/Ixchel_Anima
Summary: Simon and Catherine celebrate a year since the ARK’s launch.
Relationships: Catherine Chun & Simon Jarrett
Series: Eternity Among The Stars [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2116620
Comments: 7
Kudos: 13





	A Matter of Taste

When Simon opens his curtains in the morning, there's still a latent part of him that expects to see Toronto staring back at him from the other side of the window; objectively speaking, he supposes the view he sees now is the better one. Beyond the stretch of buildings and parks he can see the ocean that encircles their little island, and beyond that, the forest he'd first woken up in, practically glowing in the dawn light. There are no truly awful views on the ARK, but watching their world from one of the upper floors, Simon still feels he hit the jackpot.

He thumbs the corner of the window, where the Grimoire sticker had been in his old apartment. The bookshop was another of many loose threads Simon would never tie up, another unrecorded and unremembered detail among the many millions or billions of human lives that had elapsed since his scan. But he is in paradise, now, and in a world that tries every day to make true on its promise that, finally, the nightmare is over. 

Simon would be lying if he said that he didn't miss the apartment blocks all the same.

In lieu of work, Simon's main job was now building a routine. Since arriving, he'd become a morning shower convert, no longer waking so close to the start of his shift that he scarcely had the time to brush his teeth properly. The lack of urgency had set his teeth on edge at first, but once he’d acclimated to the pace of his new life he learnt that there was much to be enjoyed.

Simon was in the habit of sitting in the sun's path when it touched his room in the late morning, basking in the warm glow. He thinks, on some level, that this was how humans were meant to live; he doesn’t have to answer to landlords or banks, or any thousands of other obligations - there’s never a question of affording to live. He simply does.

It was the kind of life Simon expected when he retired, back when he had no reasons to believe he wouldn't live that long, rather than the everyday routine of a man entering his late twenties. Not that age counted for much, anymore; he was simultaneously among the youngest on the ARK, and the oldest. 

He wonders if he should lean into the grandpa vibe more. All he needs is a rocking chair.

Simon chuckles to himself, glancing to the calendar resting on his wall: May 11th. He’d been putting this day off long enough.

As if hearing his thoughts, the phone link in Simon’s room buzzes. Even without looking at the name, as he picks up he knows already who’s waiting on the other side.

“Hey Catherine.” He chirps.

“Simon! You should get down to my office. There’s something I want to show you.” 

Catherine is as straightforward as ever, but Simon can’t help but smile at the barely concealed excitement in her voice. “Guess I’ll see you there.”

Simon downs the receiver with a satisfying _click_. He finds that it’s increasingly the little things he values the most, knowing now more than ever just how lucky he is to be experiencing them at all. So he takes time over the small, tactile sensations that make up everyday living; the cold weight of keys in his hands, the lingering scent of the previous night’s rainfall clinging to the pavement as he steps outside.

And there are some sensations, of course, he doesn’t miss - the vice squeeze of fear around his lungs when he wakes from fitful sleep, the cold settle of sweat. There were still nights (and days - if he was honest with himself) where all he could do was lie there and let the feeling drown him until dawn returned. When Simon could find it in him, he’d take to the streets. It wasn’t surprising to find he wasn’t the ARK’s only night wanderer; some merely because of preference, but he suspected more of them were out for the same reasons he was then they’d openly admit.

There was something comforting about being out under the sky - his tenure underwater had been mercifully brief when compared to what the other crew members had endured, but it had been profound. So long as the stars were still shining overhead, they were no longer in PATHOS. Simon takes a long inhale, savouring the feeling. 

Though a city in name and design, it feels more a village in nature, a million miles from the bustling streets Simon had grown up in. Spring is very much upon them. As he wanders through the pathways he takes time to notice the daffodils pushing out of the grass - the dappling of moss beginning to spread in the spaces the light didn’t touch. It’s rare to find a space in the ARK that isn’t adorned with some kind of life, great vines of clematis and ivy beginning the long climb up the complex’s walls, winding up brick and light fixtures alike. Simon makes a mental note to ask if all cities in the future were as bright as this.

Catherine’s office was in a central, yet unassuming building flanked with trees he now knows as Plum Blossoms - tributes to her beloved home country. Though it functioned as the ARK’s main control room, it was more a formality than a necessity. Still, the space Simon steps into looks both well-used and well-loved, scattered with loose notepapers filled with plans and calculations, drawings made by both her and the other crew members. Even with all the technology and conveniences they had at their disposal, it was hard to beat the physicality of paper.

“Hey Simon,” Catherine greets him with a small smile, arms folded behind her back - he could tell immediately she was hiding something, and poorly. “Happy Launch Day.”

“Happy Launch Day,” Simon echoes, unable to help but smile back. Catherine was taciturn, quiet in her enthusiasm, but he’d got accustomed to her habits over the past year - by her standards, she was positively radiant.

“Here.” Catherine dramatically unwinds her arms from behind her back, revealing a white box bound in red ribbon tied in a neat bow around the top. She places it on one of the tables gently. “I wanted to show you first. Before any of the other’s saw it.”

“Aw, Cath. Thanks.” Simon might have suspected there was a reason she wanted him down here, but the gesture leaves him with a warmth in his chest regardless. He rubs the silken ribbon between his fingertips. “Sorry I didn’t get you anything in return.”

“You didn’t have to. I wanted this to be a surprise.” Catherine replies, quick to squash any of his worries. “And don’t thank me yet, you haven’t even opened it.”

“Okay! I’m doing it.” Simon chuckles, freeing the knot with and easy tug, before lifting the lid.

Simon isn’t sure what he expects to see inside. Even a year on, he’s often not sure what to expect from Catherine, but what he finds still completely floors him. The scent of cocoa hits him before the lid is fully removed. Staring back at him from the box is a small chocolate cake, the buttercream a rich brown. In white icing, clumsily written on the top, is ‘Happy Launch Day’. 

“You made me a cake,” Simon eventually manages, utterly dumbfounded. Food was tricky to implement in the ARK, despite numerous attempts, and with hunger a non issue, it wasn't a priority. How much effort had it taken to do this for him? He’s still slightly in shock even as Catherine presses a knife into his hands, accepting it thoughtlessly. 

“This is what you’ve been working on? It’s amazing.” Simon finally turns to look at her, unable to stop the dizzy laughter that bubbles up from his chest unbidden. “Jeez, Cath. You have been busy.”

Simon notices Catherine’s smile soften with relief. “You didn’t think I was just sat around doing nothing, did you?”

“I thought babysitting me was a full-time job.” Simon is still breathless as he shakes his head. “Thanks, Cath. This is… This really is amazing. I really appreciate this.”

“You’d better.” Catherine flashes him a rare smirk. “You’re also my test dummy, so any feedback on the flavour and texture would be appreciated.”

Simon turns back to the little cake. Given the effort that had been sunk into it, cutting it up felt almost profane. “That’s comforting. This isn’t going to turn me green or anything, is it?” 

“I sure hope not.” Catherine notices his hesitation. “Go on, Simon. It won’t bite.”

The reluctance is easily overcome. When Simon cuts them both some slices, the texture and give of the sponge seems just right, crumbs and dollops of icing clinging to the blade as he slides it free. He let out a pleased hum as he runs a finger down the flat of the knife, bringing it to his lips for a taste.

“Oh!” Simon went to pick his own slice up with his other hand, fully prepared to eat the whole thing in one. “I didn’t have you down as a baker, Cath - this is good. Really good.”

“Don’t sound so surprised. Baking is just chemistry - the right things, in the right proportions.” As if reading his mind, Catherine produces two tiny plates from seemingly nowhere, as well as a matching pair of cake forks. “Never been much of a chemist, though. Here. So you don’t get crumbs on my paperwork.”

Although Simon wants nothing more than to demolish the wedge and then go back for seconds and thirds, he follows Catherine’s lead. It’s as much her day as it is his, after all. And when he starts eating the cake proper he’s glad to take the time to fully appreciate it, savouring the velvety texture of the buttercream, the dense fudginess of the sponge. It had been too long.

“So,” Catherine starts between delicate forkfuls. “Is it convincing?”

Simon nods, jaw currently preoccupied with chewing. 

“I’ve been making adjustments based on the properties of the ingredients, rather than the final product. I was hoping it’d give people space to mess around and make their own things when it finally all comes together.” Catherine gestures with her cake fork as she speaks as if teaching a lecture. “There’s been a lot of trial and error in the practical experiments, but I’m hoping the sensory experience is pretty close now.”

“In other words, a lot of baking?” Simon teases. He’s always associated Catherine so heavily with technologies beyond his comprehension that the mental image of her doing something so mundane as being in a kitchen mixing up cake batter is absurd to him. Yet, he can picture it perfectly - her intense, single-minded focus, her perfectionism. He wonders just how long she had been practising to get it this close.

“You got it. Speaking of, I might have to use you as a tester again.” Catherine sets down her empty plate neatly. "I’d ask other Cath, but you know. Same taste buds and all that.”

“Eating as a full time job? Count me in.”

“Hope you have a good palate.” Catherine hummed. “Of all the senses to implement, taste is definitely one of the hardest. Everyone's preferences are going to be all over the place.”

“Well, I’m glad you’re trying. I didn’t realize I missed food this much until now.” Simon looks back to the box, puzzling out just how soon after his first slice it was acceptable to go for another. “When are you going to show everyone else?”

“I haven’t decided yet,” Catherine admits. “I wanted to wait until it was perfect - or at least until it was robust enough that there are options beyond ‘cake’. This is just a little thank-you present.”

“Thank me? You don’t have to thank me for anything, Cath. I’m happy to be here.”

“You know what I mean.” Catherine’s eyes meet his for a beat, before looking away. She’s never been one for eye contact. “I just want you to know I appreciate everything you went through to get us here.”

“It was nothing,” Simon lies, and by the look Catherine shoots him he knows instantly that it wasn’t a convincing one; they both knew he was still feeling the aftershocks of everything that had happened. “The fact that there’s a life worth living up here? That’s all you. Well, you and the other Catherine.”

“Mostly the other Catherine,” she deflects, as Simon expects she would. He finds that's the thing that sets the two Catherines apart the most, even now - the quiet confidence the ARK’s first Cath holds herself with in stark relief against the uncertainty that still plagues the second.

He really feels for Catherine - his Catherine - at times. Simon couldn’t think of a person better suited to being around her own copy, but having to rekindle all your old relationships, knowing that your place in their life was already filled with another version of you - trying to find a niche in a world where you already exist? It had to be hard.

“Crucially though, the other Cath hasn’t baked me anything.” Simon knows better now than to coddle her - wrapping his reassurances in jokes is somehow an easier pill for her to swallow. “Just you wait until everyone else gets some of this. You’ll be the alpha-Cath for sure.”

Thankfully, that startles a laugh from her, giggling even as she shakes her head at him, going through the motions of disapproval. “I hope that doesn’t mean I have to fight her.”

“You could make an event of it.”

“Say, Simon. Are you much of a baker?” The subject change is abrupt, Catherine eyeing him nervously - she must have been waiting to ask for some time. “I was wondering if you wanted to help me in the lab.”

“A little. I used to, with my mom.” Simon says, dripping fondness. “I won’t claim to be any good, but I’ll help you out, sure."

He thinks back to days spent in his family's kitchen, when his main duty was licking the leftover batter from spoons, small, clumsy, and covered in flour. And then later in life, dutifully carrying out Ashley’s instructions as they cobbled a tray of cupcakes to surprise their colleagues with at the bookshop, remembering the sickly, unappetizing green of the icing. The tray had come back from the Grimoire empty all the same. Simon could almost see his memories with Catherine already - scenes he would no doubt look back on with warmth someday in their future. From the expression on her face, he thinks she can picture it too.

“I think you should release what you have so far anyway, whether its perfect or not." Simon finds himself saying aloud before he realises he's doing it. "I think people are going to be excited either way."

"You really think so?" Catherine sounds disbelieving, but she pauses, expression thoughtful. "... I guess you're right. It’ll sure make life a whole lot more interesting up here.” 

Simon grins. “The icing on the cake, if you will.”

“Ugh!” Catherine’s face scrunches. “I’m never doing anything for you again,” she grumbles, though there's no bite to the threat - Simon only laughs harder at his own stupid joke.

Catherine plucks the knife back up from the table, waving it around purposefully. “Hey. Are you gonna finish this with me, or what?"

Simon gladly complies.

**Author's Note:**

> Just a quickie from the past couple of days - I'm funnelling my craving for chocolate cake through Simon, don't mind me.


End file.
